On Friday, teachers in Kwara State held a peaceful protest regarding their exclusion from the recently approved 30 per cent Peculiar Salary Allowance, which was granted to other categories of workers within the state.

The protesters gathered at the Nigeria Union of Teachers' state secretariat in Ilorin, where they characterised the state government's decision as discriminatory and unfair. They maintained that teachers are entitled to equal treatment alongside other civil servants.

Speaking to The PUNCH on behalf of the demonstrators, Segun Afolabi stated that the 27.5 per cent Teachers' Specific Allowance is a statutory entitlement. He argued that it should not be merged with or substituted for the newly approved 30 per cent allowance.

"Other states are implementing the 30 per cent Peculiar Allowance, and Kwara should not be an exception. Teachers' earnings in Kwara State are far below the economic reality of the country," Afolabi remarked.

He further noted that inadequate remuneration is impacting the quality of education within the state.

"Education is suffering because teachers are not well paid. All civil servants in Kwara State were paid November 2024 palliatives, but teachers were exempted," he said.

According to Afolabi, the deteriorating economic hardship has forced many teachers to rely on loans for their survival.

"The economic hardship is escalating and affecting teachers the most. In Kwara State, teachers depend solely on loans to stay alive. The quality of education is low because teachers are not properly attended to," he added.

He said the protest was to demand the immediate implementation of the 30 per cent Peculiar Allowance for teachers, as enjoyed by other state workers.

Reacting to the protest, the Kwara State Chairman of the NUT, Yusuf Agboola, appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to urgently include teachers in the new allowance in the interest of equity and industrial harmony.

Agboola said the union had earlier issued a circular urging public school teachers to remain calm and avoid further protests over their exclusion from the allowance approved for workers in ministries, departments and agencies.

He acknowledged that teachers were deeply pained by the development.

"There is no gainsaying that we are in pain and our hearts are disturbed by the missing gaps in the payment of the newly introduced Peculiar Allowance, from which Kwara public school teachers were excluded," Agboola said.

However, he dismissed claims that the union's leadership had failed teachers, describing such perceptions as misleading.

He explained that negotiations on the Peculiar Allowance took place alongside discussions on the Teachers' Specific Allowance, which was recently approved after over a decade of abandonment.

"The union demanded during negotiations that the 30 per cent Peculiar Allowance be extended to teachers in addition to the 27.5 per cent and 21 per cent TSA already under consideration.

"We categorically told representatives of the state government that the Peculiar Allowance should also be extended to teachers," he said.

Agboola disclosed that the union officially received confirmation of the TSA approval at an enlarged emergency meeting of the State Standing Committee held on December 21, 2025, describing it as a major achievement of his administration since assuming office in late 2023.

He also criticised a protest staged by some teachers on December 22, alleging that it was driven by ulterior motives and exploited the frustration of members.

"The call for protest was surrounded by motives that some teachers could not fully understand. Participation amounted to joining the multitude, while the real masterminds hid under the issue of Peculiar Allowance," he said.

Agboola added that the union's leadership was not present during the protest because it was not formally notified, while secretariat staff were already on end-of-year holidays, and key officers were out of the state.

Appealing for unity, he urged teachers to remain calm and work together to resolve outstanding issues.

"A united people can never be defeated," he said.

The PUNCH had earlier in December reported that the national leadership of the NUT faulted the Kwara State Government over what it described as persistent neglect of teachers' welfare.

In a letter dated November 13, 2025, jointly signed by the National President, Audu Amba, and the Secretary-General, Dr Clinton Ikpitibo, the union accused the government of failing to implement the 27.5 per cent Teachers' Specific Allowance and the National Harmonised Teachers' Retirement Age Act, 2022.

The letter, acknowledged by the Governor's Office on November 17, warned that teachers in the state could embark on a full-blown strike if the issues remained unresolved.

The union expressed disappointment that while the government had approved consolidated salary structures for medical and health workers, nurses and judicial staff, teachers' long-standing demands were yet to be addressed.

It said the failure to implement the TSA and domesticate the Harmonised Teachers' Retirement Age Act, which extends retirement age to 65 years or 40 years of service, had pushed teachers in the state "to the brink," warning that patience within the sector was wearing thin.

When contacted, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, did not respond to WhatsApp messages sent to him, nor did he answer his phone when a call was put through to him.